LESSON 2

BOOK CHAPTER 22

ELECTRIC FIELDS
Electric Dipoles:
An electric dipole is a pair of point charges with equal magnitude and opposite
sign (a positive charge and a negative charge ) separated by a small distance
.

Fig.1
⃗
𝑑 Fig.2

The product of the chargeand the separation

is the magnitude of a quantity called the
electric dipole moment, denoted by
The pattern of electric field lines
around an electric dipole, with an

𝑝 =𝑞 ⃗
electric field vector shown
In vector form, ⃗ 𝑑 (Figure 2) at one point (tangent to
The direction of is from negative charge to the field line through that point).
positive charge as shown in figure 1.
The Electric Field Due to an Electric Dipole:
The net magnitude of the electric field at point P is

𝐸 = 𝐸¿ ¿
1 𝑞
𝐸=
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑟 ¿ ¿ ¿

[( ]
𝑞 1 1
𝐸= −
4 𝜋 𝜀0
) ( )
2 2
𝑑 𝑑
𝑧− 𝑧+
2 2

[{ ( ]
𝑞 1 1
𝐸= −

)} { ( )}
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑑
2
𝑑
2

𝑧 1− 𝑧 1+
2𝑧 2𝑧

[( ]
𝑞 1 1
𝐸= −
) ( )
2 2 2
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧 𝑑 𝑑
1− 1+
2𝑧 2𝑧
 [( ) ( ) ]
−2 −2
𝑞 𝑑 𝑑 For
𝐸= 1− − 1+
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧 2 2𝑧 2𝑧
𝑑 We use the form of binomial theorem,
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 ≪1 2
2𝑧 𝑛 𝑛𝑥 𝑛 ( 𝑛 − 1 ) 𝑥
( 1+𝑥 ) =1+ + + .. .( 𝑥 2< 1)
1! 2!
𝑇h𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒,𝑤𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 ,

𝐸=
𝑞
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧
2 [( 1+ ) (
2𝑑
2𝑧
− 1−
2𝑑
2𝑧 )]
𝐸=
𝑞
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧
2
1+
[
𝑑
𝑧
− 1+
𝑑
𝑧 ]
𝐸=
𝑞
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧
2
2
[ ]
𝑑
𝑧
2𝑞𝑑 2𝑝 𝑝
𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 , 𝐸= 3
= 3
= 3
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧 4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧 2 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑧
h𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝=𝑞𝑑=𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
 Linear charge density:
When charge is distributed along a line (such as a long, thin, charged plastic rod), we
use (the Greek letter lambda λ) to represent the charge per unit length known as
linear charge density.
That is
𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑐h𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡h𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑑
𝜆= [For uniform linear charge density]
𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡h 𝑜𝑓 𝑡h𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑑
The SI unit of λ is Coulomb/meter;
simply, we use C/m.

Note:
Analytical problem:
For charge that is distributed uniformly over a ring, determine
the net electric field at a given point on the axis of the ring (at a
distance z from the center of the ring).

Fig. The electric fields set up at P by a

charge element and its symmetric
partner (on the opposite side of the
ring). The components perpendicular
to the z axis cancel; the parallel
components add.

Let ds be the (arc) length of any differential element

of the ring. Since λ is the charge per unit (arc)
length, the element has a charge of magnitude
This differential charge () sets up a differential electric field at point P, which
is a distance r from the element. Treating the element as a point charge.

Hence, we can write the magnitude of as

1 𝑑𝑞 1 𝜆𝑑𝑠 1 𝜆 𝑑𝑠
𝑑 𝐸= = =
4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑟 4 𝜋 𝜀0 𝑟
2 2
4 𝜋 𝜀0 ( 𝑧 2+ 𝑅2 )2
√
Since the components perpendicular to the z axis cancel and the parallel components
add, the net electric field along z-axis is

𝐸 𝑧 =𝐸=∫ 𝑑𝐸 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃=∫

1 𝜆 𝑑𝑠
4 𝜋 𝜀0 ( 𝑧 2+𝑅 2 ) [√ ] 𝑧
𝑧 2 +𝑅 2
we can write
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃= =
𝑧 𝑧
𝑟 √ 𝑧2 + 𝑅 2
Finally,
Problem 30 (Book chapter 22)
Figure shows two concentric rings, of radii R and
, that lie on the same plane. Point P lies on the central z axis, at
distance from the center of the rings. The smaller ring has
uniformly distributed charge
. In terms of Q, what is the uniformly distributed charge on the
larger ring if the net electric field at P is zero?
⃗
𝑬 +𝑸
Answer:
According to the statement of the problem, ⃗
𝑬− 𝒒
𝐸+𝑄 − 𝐸 −𝑞 =0
+𝑸 −𝒒
𝐸+𝑄 =𝐸− 𝑞
𝑄𝐷 𝑞𝐷
3
= 3 3
𝑄 ( 13 𝑅 )
2 2

( ) 𝑄=4.19 𝑄
3
4 𝜋 𝜀0 ( 𝐷 + 𝑅 ) 2 4 𝜋 𝜀0 ( 𝐷 + ( 3 𝑅 ) ) 13
2 2 2 2 2

𝑞= 3
= 2
5
𝑄 𝑞 (5 𝑅 )
2 2

3
= 3
(4 𝑅 + 𝑅 ) ( 4 𝑅 +9 𝑅 )
𝑞=− 4.19 𝑄
2 2 2 2 2 2

That is
THANK YOU